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July 2012 Moms
reinedecajun
member
UO Thursday
reinedecajun
member
So far today my opinion is my toddler is a asshole, but only at night. Also only every other night. I just dont know...
This discussion has been closed.
Re: UO Thursday
I think babysitters are way overpaid (at least in our case) and it is actually painful for me to pay the babysitter when MH and I go out.
I mean, they have maybe 1-1.5 hours of actual babysitting to do and the rest of the time they get to sit on our couch, watch TV, and eat our food. $40 for 1 hour of watching a baby and 3 hours of watching a movie and eating our snacks seems ridic. I think it should be totally appropriate to pay less for the hours that your child is asleep.
The few times H's niece has watched Will has been occasions where we were out for a few drinks, etc. I rarely drink these days, so after a couple I am tipsy and when we come home I just say "H - give her whatever cash you have left!" which is usually $60+ dollars (and she's only watched him for 3-4 hours). And now that I've set that ridiculous precedent, I completely regret it. She watched him last Saturday and I bought them take out since they hadn't eaten ($30) and then I think my H gave them $40 before we left and then $50 when we got home. Um. What? They watched him from 5-10, which is a while, but he goes to sleep at 7:30.
She is going to college in the Fall, so I feel like we are really helping her out by giving her a little extra....but boy! A night out is expensive as hell! I would rather eat pizza in my sweatpants.
Also, I should have babysat more when I was younger. And saved more money.
Eats childproof locks for breakfast...
Seriously when the kid is asleep the same pay should apply. I pay for insurance every month, I may not use it every month but when I need it its there for me. Same thing with childcare when the kid is sleeping your paying for piece of mind and safety. Your not there so the caregiver is your insurance. No time to be petty with those things.
This exactly!! Our sitter actually does clean so I find even though she is expensive, that it works out really nicely. Whenever Ava is asleep, she cleans cause she gets bored sitting around. It's so nice to come home to a clean house that smells wonderful! One of our previous sitters left a huge mess everywhere and it sucked coming home to that!
Also, even though the kid may be asleep, I think of that money as hazard pay. You never know if that night is the night little Jimmy decides to be a terror. I once babysat a tiny baby. She was asleep when the parents left. About ten minutes after they left, she started screaming. Nothing I did calmed her down. She screamed until just before they came home (after a massive poopy diaper). I was panicking and calling my mom for advice, in tears because I couldn't figure out what to do. So yeah, hazard pay.
I am not saying I don't care who watches my child or that I want to pay some hoodrat off the street $20 bucks to come sit at my house while he sleeps, I'm simply stating that I hate having to pay so much for someone to do hardly anything. However, K has yet to wake up while being watched by a sitter. In the case that he does wake up and need assistance at night, we are always close by and our sitter knows to call us and we will come right home if he won't settle.
I get that babysitters are invaluable, but their job is not hard when the kid is sleeping and they make bank for doing nothing. Often, I find his empty sippy cup upstairs in the playroom and all the sitter's dishes still dirty and in the sink. At least rinse those out! And I love our sitter, I just wish going to an average priced dinner and a movie didn't cost us over $100 every time!
She is great with K, so that makes up for it for me, but she is moving across the country in a month anyway
Eats childproof locks for breakfast...